In the wild, dogs instinctually dig and scratch away their sleep surface before bedding down. The reason is to dig away wet or hot earth in order to create a cool and dry sleep surface. Wild dogs will also seek out protected areas to sleep in order to prevent attacks from predators. These protected areas typically are a wall, a fence, or a bank of trees that provide shelter/protection in at least one direction. As dogs typically live/sleep in packs, having something warm to nestle into is another common behavior.
Domesticated dogs still carry over this behavior. Further, it is becoming more common for domesticated dogs to sleep indoors with their families. Thus it is beneficial for dogs to have a bed of their own that respect dogs' instinctual needs for sleep and comfort. It is also important that a dog bed offer ease of use, durability and care/maintenance to afford simplicity for a typical pet owners modern lifestyle.
The design choices in most prior-art dog beds are primarily cost-driven. The cheapest stuffing or fill material is a loose fiber (typically polyester). This loose fiber filling can shift around and compress very easily. The negative aspect of fiber shifting is often advertised as a way for dogs to prepare the sleep surface as in the wild. But since the material being shifted is also the sleep surface, the dog ends up pushing the soft, insulating material away and sleeping on fabric only.
A large category of dog beds are called “bolster” beds. They provide a raised perimeter for a dog to nestle into. Nearly all bolsters are filled with loose fiber (as noted above). Loose fiber has no structure and cannot hold its shape. The loose fiber may fill the fabric cover to give the appearance of structure. But in actual use, the raised bolsters splay open and compress flat very easily. This ends up providing no real support or protected pocket to nestle into. This also leads to the dog bed flattening out prematurely and looking sloppy within the pet owners home.
Some dog beds use loose fiber and/or foam combinations for construction. Foam is an ideal filler as it provides great support and resiliency. But foam does not look good when stuffed into a fabric cover. It is much firmer than loose fiber and usually cut with flat faces and edges. These flat and firm faces result in a dog bed that looks very rectilinear and square. While foam is good for the dog's comfort, this square look is dissonant with most interior furnishings within the pet owners home. Furthermore, foam pieces are typically very sticky and hard to stuff and un-stuff from the fabric cover. Similarly, loose fiber filled pillows are equally hard to stuff/un-stuff from the fabric cover as they are different sizes/shapes and overstuffed to give the appearance of fullness and structure.
Further, the majority of dog beds are not washable. As dogs are inherently messy creatures, a dog bed can quickly become soiled and dirty. Dogs are also naturally curious. They will seek out things to chew on or tear apart. Making a dog bed with a washable fabric cover is often done by making a zippered cover. Once the dog bed needs cleaning, the pet owner will unzip the fabric cover, remove the inside filling (loose fiber in a pillow case or foam pieces) and wash the cover. But a loose zipper can often be chewed on by a dog or drag on and scratch a pet owner's floor.
Accordingly, there is a need for an indoor mattress for domesticated dogs that provides a soft and supportive sleep surface that is also easy to clean.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.